1. Check the clause before the timetable
Emergency arbitration normally depends on an agreement incorporating a set of institutional rules. Begin with the arbitration clause, the applicable rules and their edition. Check whether the emergency mechanism applies to the agreement and whether the parties have excluded it.
Do not assume that the institution’s latest rules necessarily govern an older agreement. Transitional provisions and the date of the clause can matter. The correct starting point is the agreement actually made, read with the relevant rules.
2. Explain what cannot wait
An emergency application needs a clear account of the threatened harm. What is about to happen? When? What would change if the parties had to wait for the tribunal?
A chronology is often more helpful than a long statement that the matter is urgent. Identify the proposed conduct, the evidence for the threat and the precise measure sought. Explain why a later award of damages may not address the problem adequately, where that is relevant under the applicable standard.
Keep the proposed order proportionate. A narrowly framed request tied to evidence is easier to assess than a demand that effectively decides the entire dispute at the emergency stage.
3. Separate the different clocks
Appointment time, the deadline for a decision and the deadline for starting the main arbitration are different things. So are calendar days and business days. A headline promising rapid relief rarely tells the whole procedural story.
For example, the LCIA’s guidance explains that its emergency arbitrator must decide the claim as soon as possible and ordinarily no later than 14 days from appointment, subject to the stated extension mechanisms. That is a deadline measured from appointment, not a universal promise of an enforceable order 14 days after the first enquiry.
Build a timetable from the actual rules and communications in the case. Check filing, service, payment and any obligation to begin the main arbitration.
4. Ask where the order needs to work
Relief is useful only if it can address the threatened conduct. Consider who holds the assets or information, where they are located and whether the requested measure can practically bind the relevant person.
An emergency arbitrator’s authority comes from the parties’ agreement and the applicable framework. A court may have powers involving third parties or urgent measures that an emergency arbitrator cannot exercise in the same way. The choice may require a coordinated strategy rather than an automatic preference for one forum.
In England and Wales, section 41A of the Arbitration Act 1996, inserted by the 2025 reforms, provides a statutory framework concerning emergency arbitrators’ peremptory orders. It should be read alongside the relevant court-support provisions and their conditions. It does not make every emergency decision enforceable in every jurisdiction.
5. A filing checklist
Before filing, assemble the arbitration agreement, the correct rules, the core chronology and the documents establishing urgency. Identify the parties accurately and confirm the institution’s filing and fee requirements.
Prepare a draft order that says what must be done or avoided, by whom and for how long. Explain the route from the measure requested to the harm it is meant to prevent. Address notice, the opportunity for the other side to respond and any applicable security requirements.
Finally, plan the next step. Emergency relief is usually part of a larger dispute. Record how the measure interacts with the main arbitration and any court proceedings, and what will happen once the tribunal is constituted.
